23.02.2012 Man vs Machine: could robots take over our lives? By Prof. Ing.

Simon Fabri How intelligent could these robots get? One would want to make robots more intelligent, human like. When you re defining, you re constraining from adding and becoming more creative.

Robotic arms- manipulators used in factories. They try to imitate the human function of manipulating objects. They are now pre-programmed by computers. Before, it was a circuit. Is this Artificial Intelligence (A.I) or just automation? Automation is like a washing machine. And does not imitate human/animal action. On the other hand, robotics does. Robotics is part of automation but automation is not necessarily part of robotics. There are robotic pets and mobile robots that move. They mimic some aspect of what living organisms do. They come in many different shapes and could be physically different from what they are trying to imitate. They could have sensors and are programmed by ways of a computer. Humanoid robots: in shape of humans eg. Honda motor (isimo) The reason could be that in some years, when robots would be interacting with humans, humans may find it uncomfortable to have them in a different shape than them. Sci-fi Androids- can t distinguish from a human (eg. Commander Data) Bot-man, Tat-man robots that can even regain back balance after being pushed. Performance differ Teleoperation- by means of a remote control. This is the most basic form (model by remote). In serious and important situations, this could be useful. However, here there is a lack of autonomy and intelligence. Spirit and Opportunity of Mars were teleoperated. Not simple remote control is what makes it a robot. Eg. Drones, for bomb disposal, titanic wreck explored by robots, Archeologists in Malta map wells underwater with robots (collaboration with a polytechnic university from the USA, there is going to be a talk on this next month)

Partial teleoperation have some sensors and some local intelligence. They have a system/ alarm whereby if they detect obstacles which were not taken into consideration or danger they override human control. Full autonomy is the end/aim in robotics. The robots here would learn from experience. They would be first programmed by humans and then learn on their own. This is still far away even considering later progress. Today is not like sci-fi but we re working towards that. History of Robotics. Karel apek a playwright (early sci-fi) was the first to coin the term robot from the word robota which means servitude/ 1920- R.U.R- Rossum s Universal Robots. The characters were mechanical robots used for cheap labour for mass production and also used as soldiers. Robots revolted and took over the entire world and killing all humans. However, they had no knowledge on how to reproduce. Isaac Asimov- robotics (sci fi writer/novelist) his works include I robot (1940/50s) etc. There are a variety of subjects in academia needed for robotics eg. Electronics, computer engineering etc. Robotics is not that recent. In 1948 William Grey Walter created the first robot. It had a light sensor and tactile (responded to touch) and could find a charger to charge themselves. They worked with Vacuum Valves! 1950- George Devol- first industrial arm for car production. Co-Created Unimation incorporated for their production (now closed). The future? In 2007 there were 6.5 million robots in operation (different sectors and variety) In 2011 there were 18 million robots in operation in whatever form. Reality is that they are growing in number and application. This cannot be stopped. Where are they used?

Roomba robot-

(aka this guy here)

This is a vacuum domestic application. It scans its surrounding and sees where its cleaning capabilities are needed. -in security -in industry -climbing robots for cleaning skyscraper s glass - in the military (drones etc) and sometimes by the police force. - in space technology and for exploration -used as workers or as coworkers alongside humans -in transportation -for surveillance and explorations - drones for intelligence - in medicine and health (during surgery- the Da vinci system for smaller scales) robot assisted surgery -rehabilitation therapy and physiotherapy where they help and monitor patient s progress

We could be presented with ethical, legal and social issues. Asimov- 3 laws of robotics 1. They may not injure humans 2. They have to obey humans 3. They should protect their existence as long as they do not clash with 1 and 2 Ethical concerns are found in any technology eg. Cloning. We have to watch out for any technology.

Labour is taken away but economic increase occurs. We need them to be more competitive. There would be a possibility for more interesting and lighter jobs for humans (he didn t take into consideration overpopulation) There needs to be a change in attitude. We shouldn t simply try to stop this process. There is a concern by human co-workers, like will they gather personal information even small things like habits? Would you trust a robot? Of course, this could be applied to any technology which we use and information could be taken from it by companies etc. We could protect ourselves from robots through legalistic means and not try to stop them (basically be safe and cautious but don t try to stop it) We also have to consider that the problems presented could be also applied for ICT. What about the future? In 2018 predicted that most markets would be dominated by Robotics. (Like ICT now). There is a market interest, so there is competition between USA, EU, Japan and Korea because of the expectation that whoever gets there first will dominate the market. Research, Innovation and development are needed. Swarm intelligence- Robots collaborating together and not acting individually. They have a common objective and share information and plan together to reach it. -miniaturization- Nano technology. Advances in A.I- would enhance their autonomy, pattern recognition and adaptation. There are interesting examples of their application in the future, but we are still far away from what science fiction presents to us. Marvin Minsky- 1970- Minsky said that in 8 years maximum, there will be robots with the intelligence of an average human being. This shows that even scientists had their predictions wrong. For more intelligent robots we need: larger storage space Higher operation More algorithms System integration etc

Can a robot exhibit consciousness? Emotions? Intelligence? Judgment?

Descartes- animal automations (automata) Animals and humans are complex machines. (We need to know exactly how we function to make robotic copies of us) Is there danger? Should we want to move to that direction? Such trends, progress and advances cannot be stopped. There is economic motivation involved behind this research and this whole process. One also has to take into account human curiosity. It could lead to higher standards of living and robots could be regulated for our own advantages. We should be aware of ethical dilemmas and problems to avoid them. We should see that there is no misuse. He sees humans and robots as becoming inseparable such as with cars, computers and the internet. In the end, human survival overrides and perceived problems. We are always one step ahead (that s debatable). Discussion main points and questions (these are questions, comments and answers passed. Not all are by the professor) -cyborgs and exoskeletons -will we become dependent on robotics too much? We are pretty much dependent too much on anything else, even simply electricity. -Do these robots have a shelf life ? -If they could take over the world, would they want to? I know one thing about cats and that is that cats are very good at being cats (:D:D) Maybe robots would focus on being good robots? (aka their function) We are humanizing them. -What is intelligence? How is it measured? Some argue that an organic/chemical system measures intelligence. A mechanical system can never reach such measure. -We need to know how we function to make a copy of ourselves. -There are also hardware limitations (storage space etc) and algorithm problems themselves. (We could have the know-how but not the machinery/materials needed or our know-how could be imperfect in itself) - In the last 70 years, there wasn t so much progress. Only if there is a leap like an important discovery will time be shortened for the production of an intelligent robot. - Can it be like the matrix? Conscious of being controlled (not unconscious) Brain Computer Interfacing (used for persons with disabilities) -Can consciousness be transferred?

You are assuming it exists. What is consciousness and how can it be defined? Can you move it into another being? -Ray Kurzweil- Moore s law is ending. Evolution taken to another step. Law of accelerating returns. Technical singularity.

-Can they (robots) be an extension of our consciousness? Homo Robot we are assuming that they are a separate identity, not the next step in Evolution. The next version of us. Technology evolves in a way that is useful to us